


sweet tooth

by brightly_brightly



Series: flare out with love love love [2]
Category: Person Of Interest - Fandom
Genre: Discussions of sex, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Her Name is Root, Making Out, No Smut, Poi, fluffernutter, her name is root bitch, now kiss!, root is a cool mom, shaw puts everything in terms of dogs, smush, so fluff i can't even, virginity is a construct
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-07 18:38:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6819538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightly_brightly/pseuds/brightly_brightly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fluffy teen movie moment, for all the Shoot fans who don't care for kink/bdsm/smut. Just a mushy sappy nonsense bonding between Shaw and college-age Gen and Shaw and Root.</p><p>I make no excuses for this ridiculousness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sweet tooth

"Soooo, how do I do it like a pro?"

She might be a college sophomore now, but Gen's impatient tone still reminds Shaw of that eleven year old kid, charging in way over her head.

Shaw fits the rife barrel she's working on into place, snug and secure. She double checks the last bolt before turning to Gen.

"Why d'you want my advice anyway? I'm... I'm probably not the best person to ask about this sort of thing."

Gen shrugs and mops her bangs off her forehead. Her hair has grown so long since Shaw saw her at Christmas... Hell, Gen has changed so much in the past six months that keeping up with her hair evolutions is the least of Shaw's concerns. She seems even taller now, like a bonafide adult, with her hip cocked to the side and a pair of thick, round tortoise shell glasses occupying her face. Gen crosses her arms and stares her down. Shaw regrets teaching her that technique.

"You're still my adult, I get to ask you these things first. Before consulting the writhing mass mindhive of my peers and the dark corners of the internet."

"Damn. You sound like Root. You gotta stop freelancing with her. She's bad news."

Gen chuckles, "yeah. right. But seriously. I really need advice. Kieran is special and I want it to be good."

"Come on, kid. You've probably read every magazine article there is about sexy tricks and tips, in every language you speak. And remember you took that sex, bodies, and relationships class in high school?"

"Yeah but this is different. This is... the real thing."

Shaw sighs and wipes a streak of black oil off her fingers onto her little pocket towel. She blinks up at the little tract of pale blue sky peeking in through the safe house garage window, as though it might suddenly split open and rain down the perfect answer. No such luck.

"Why isn't Finch your adult?"

Gen rolls her eyes. "Finch hasn't had sex since like 2010, at least YOU still know how to do it. Besides, you're a girl. You sleep with girls, and guys...so... statistically you're more likely to give me good advice."

Shaw ignores the fact that she's now a couple decades too old to count as a "girl," and even Root only calls her that during certain games.

"That's probably true... Man. I dunno what to say, Gen. I'm not like an expert or anything."

Gen shrugs. "But I'm asking you."

She sighs. "Ok. Well. It's sort of like- You know how you pet a dog, right? There's the basic dos and don'ts for petting all dogs- do offer them your hand to sniff, don't touch their tail. So for every dog, pretty much, it's the same basics. But that's only the first part- when you meet a new dog, you don't know what they like. Uh, do they like rough thumpy pets? Do they like gentle stroking pets? You know?"

Gen stares at her blankly. This isn't as bad as the time she tried to explain her and Root's relationship to Gen, but it's still pretty bad. Shaw powers through. Because when in doubt, or an awkward conversation, that's what Shaw does... she powers through;

"You gotta go in real slow and try a whole bunch of different kinds of pets until you hit on the ones that make that dog the happiest. Whether it's scratching them behind the ears or rubbing their belly. And it's basically the same principle with sex- with people. You go in with some basic agreed on do's and don'ts and then you figure out the rest as you go. Trial and error. And experience doesn't matter all that much because every dog- I mean every person, is different and is gonna like different things. The important part is to figure out what you like, so you can enjoy yourself and make it easier for the other person to.... do the things. Ok?"

Shaw hates this conversation, hates doing so much talking, hates having to talk about a thing that usually involves a lot of emotions for people. She wishes she had a beer. Or a crossbow. Or anything to divert her from this conversation.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure."

"How did know that Root loved you?"

Shaw groans. "She told me."

"You believed her?"

"Of course not. But she said it and then she wouldn't go away, no matter how much of a dick I was to her. She kept bringing me sandwiches and stuff. And it was something- she had absolutely nothing to gain by it. It was maybe the only thing I ever heard her say where there was no profit in it for her, just a loss. And fuck, there were a lot of sandwiches... So. I figured it probably wasn't a lie."

Gen smiles the kind of reassured smile that makes Shaw think -maybe- just maybe she got this somewhat right.

"So, just to be clear- I should let him sniff my hand and find out if he likes getting scratched behind the ears?"

"Don't be a smartass or I'll send you to Fusco."

"Maybe I'll ask Root."

"Yeah you do that, if you want to stay a virgin forever."

"I bet Root would give good advice! YOU never have any complaints."

"Because Root has been petting my dog for years. She knows everything it likes."

Gen scrunches up her face. "Didn't need to know that,"

"You already knew that. Now go, wash your hands or whatever and get ready for your date. And...maybe do go get some advice from Root too. About the feelings side of things. She's good at feelings."

"And you're not?"

Shaw shrugs. "Root's better."

Gen smiles a wry smile, pats Shaw's shoulder, and sashays into the house; the tap-tap of her heels vaguely reminding Shaw of Root.

A few moments later, Shaw hears Gen and Root chatting animatedly about something in the kitchen. Probably the sex again.

"-- the same page about what it means, and oh! before I forget, there are condoms in that bag, and lube. Don't do ANYTHING without lube!" she hears Root call as the garage door swings open and the woman herself appears.

Root has two cold beers, one which she puts down for Shaw, the other she sips on delicately, like it's a cocktail.

"Gen's going to have sex tonight" she blurts, causing Shaw to jolt forward and bump her head on the work station lamp.

"Ah, shit, Root!"

"Thanks for comparing the beautiful act of making love with me to petting a dog, by the way."

Shaw grimaces, "Ew, don't call it that."

She abandons her repair job and settles on the step next to Root to drink her beer. They share a few peaceful moments of silence together, Shaw drinking, Root idly picking the label off her bottle.

"It's sweet how Gen looks up to you," Root comments after a while.

"Yeah. well. 'm her adult. Guess that makes her my kid, sort of."

Root pets her head, "so cute."

"Hm. Don't know why she thought coming to me for sex advice was a good idea. Shouldn't she have, like... done all this Taylor Swift in a white nightgown stuff already?" Shaw remarks, "She's nineteen. By her age, I barely even remembered my first time."

Root tips her head, "why? How old were you the first time?"

"Dunno. Fourteen? Fifteen... something like that."

Root stares at her, leaning in, clearly expecting more details.

"It was with an older kid, from my dojo. We were in the same black belt class. He had really good form and he wasn't annoying, was hot too. I wanted to fuck him, so he stole some condoms and we did."

Root smirks.

"Was it in the back of a car? A station wagon? While Phil Collins crooned on an eight track?"

Shaw pokes her in the ribs, Root tries to scramble away to the edge of the step, but it does no good, Shaw still gets a good poke in,

"It was not. There were no cliches. It was just a good, hot three minutes after a tournament. Why, what was yours like?"

Root shrugs, stares off into the middle distance.

"Ohhhh, I don't know. I was Alice Carter, a bio med student at Cal Tech. The Dean of Students needed to end up dead and I needed quick access, so... Alice Carter learned how to fake an orgasm, the Dean had a conveniently placed heart attack, and I got ten grand."

Shaw frowns, not entirely comfortable with the thought.

"You had sex for the first time for a job? Not like I haven't done it before but- I mean, that sucks, you... deserve better. I guess."

Root smiles the saccharine smile that means she thinks she's being pitied and is angry about it.

"Don't act like I missed out on a magical moment or something, Sameen... my town didn't even have a dojo."

Shaw scoffs, shoulder bumps Root.

"Ok, whatever- but the first time you did it with someone just for yourself, not for a mission or a contract or some kind of one up, but because you just plain wanted to, when was that?"

Shaw doesn't know why she's suddenly so interested. It's not like sex is a big deal for either of them.

Root looks at her, twitches an eyebrow and says nothing.

"What?"

Root shrugs and just keeps staring at her. It's intense and unnerving and-- oh.

Shaw sputters. "You can't... you can't be serious."

"What?"

"But you were some of the best sex I'd ever had, that night at the CIA safe-house was... I mean, I got off thinking about it for weeks after."

Root grins, "me too."

"How'd you get so good at," Shaw flaps a hand inarticulately, "all the- the y'know, the stuff, then?"  
Root shrugs, "just because I slept eith people for work doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it sometimes, or learn from it. One mark of mine was really, really into... well. I picked some pointers up from her and other people here and there. It's easy to catalogue what you might enjoy with the right partner, to relish the possibilities."

"Fuck. Root. You're such a surprise, you know that?"

Root peels a new strip of label off her beer bottle.

"Eh. Sex isn't really... My relationship with my body isn't like yours with your body. It's... complicated."

"Everything about you is complicated" Shaw levels her with a flat stare, "But that's not a bad thing."

"Well, for me it, was- attraction was always an abstract concept, code not hardware. I never much needed the physical things. I could do them, and do them well with enough practice, like any kind of convincing performance. But most of the people I've had to deal with have been ants, cretins, tiring, small-minded sheep. Nothing about them ever made my blood rise or my body take any real interest. I never really WANTED anyone in that messy, crazy, unplanned, real way. Not enough to do anything about it."

The "until you" remains unspoken.

"You want me all the time," Shaw murmurs.

"It's true," Root nods, "I can't get enough of you."

"Why..."

"Don't know. Before, my body was such a handicap, just a faulty piece of code. Then you came along, and now I know that my pulse means more than 'you're alive,' and my skin feels different when I look at you, like it finally fits, and my mouth used to be... just a mouth, but with you, it's an adventure. It's all an adventure."

Shaw slurps on her beer, she doesn't like it when Root gets mushy. "I can't be the only thing--"

"Not just you. You and The Machine. Together, you make me..." Root shrugs, "happy I guess."

Shaw takes away Root's beer, she wasn't going to finish it anyway. "You make me ... pancakes."

"You love pancakes. And by default, me."

"Don't push it. So are you saying you're not gay? You're just... Shaw sexual?"

Root laughs, "I like women. And I more-than-like you. How's that for an answer?"

"very teen vogue. but I can work with it."

"Wanna finger me in the back seat of your hotrod, miss captain of the karate team? I have a whole hour before curfew."

"Quit teasing me or I'll stop feeding you and you'll die."

Shaw leans in and kisses Root, then, not really sure why she feels the need to, feels the need for Root's mouth, warm and compliant against hers.

"I'll make out with you," she growls against Root's lips, "but you're not rounding second base unless you buy me dinner first."

"There are fish sticks in the freezer," Root offers.

Root pulls her back in for more, slips her tongue, sure and firm into Shaw's mouth, tipping her head back just so. They trade slow, lazy kisses until their beer bottles are warm in their hands.

"What's it gonna take for me to score a home run?" Root asks, voice rough.

"Mmmm. Ask me to prom."

"Awww, I can't go, I'm breaking into the chem lab that night."

"Pity. I would have let you go down on me at the after party."

"Why, Sameen Shaw! We aren't even going steady!"

Shaw pokes her again, gentler this time.

"I'd say after seven years... it's pretty steady."

Root laughs, she leans in til her face is right up against the side of Shaw's. Suddenly Shaw remembers being groggy and drugged with zip tie bites on her wrists in a hot, musty SUV, Root's face up close and the tension sparking between them. It's different now, the tension doesn't come in angry, frictive bursts that invariably lead to aggressive sex. The tension is a deep, strong current now- always there, always raising their hackles just a little bit. The aggressive sex still happens, but now it's not the only kind.

"I love you," Root whispers, like it's the naughtiest secret in the whole world.

Shaw nods, wraps her arm over Root's shoulders.

"Kinda figured that much when ya filled my locker with confetti."


End file.
